Improvement in rattan machinery



Inl men fr:

AM. PHOTO-LITRO. C0. NN. (OSBDRNE'S PROCESS.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS J. MAYALL, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO OYRUS VAKEFIELD, OF

SOUTH READING, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN RATTAN MACHINERY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36.057, dated July 29, 1862.

' Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Cutting Rattans; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of themsame, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which similar letters refer to like parts.

The object of this inventionis to divideand cut the surface of rattan into longitudinal sec tions or strips that may be subsequently separated from the core to form strands or braids for seating chairs and for other purposes; and it consists of a series of rotating cutter-wheels that cut into the surface of the rattan to the" depth required for the thickness of the strand While the stick of rattan is being carried through the machinel by grooved feed-rollers of such construction as to enable them to grasp the rattan firmly without .injuring its silicious surface.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I shall now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure l of the drawings is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section, of the same.

The stick of rattan represented in the drawings is grasped by the pairs of rollers a, b, c, and d, which are furnished With grooves in the middle of their length for itsreception, and are covered with india-rubber, that the stick may be rmly and securely held Without bruising or crushing its surface. Each pair of these rollers is provided with blocks of indiarubber, e e, placed above and below their journals, so that the rollers willyield uniformly to any variation of the size of the stick and retain it in its proper central and rectilinear position in the machine. The journals also have regulating-screws f, bearing upon the blocks of indiarubber, with a plate interposed for the purpose of adjusting the rollers4 to the different diameters of rattans and to any desired pressure. A similar office vmay be performed by replacing the india-rubber and regulating set-screws by metal springs and set-screws. It will be found that the extent of this adjustment will not be sufficient to interfere with the action of the gear-wheels by which the rollers are rotated from the driving-shaftw.

The rotary cutters g are held in the forks of the slides h, that are retained iu a radial position with relation to the rattan by the caps t of the stationary head secured to the frame of the machine. The slides 7L, with their respective cutter-wheels, are advanced toward the center or are withdrawn, as may be necessary, by the screws k, working in brackets Z, that are formed on the stationary head in such manner that if they be turned Vin one direction the cutter-wheels will be caused to converge to the center, or if they be turned in the other direction the cutters will be Withdrawn.

The frame of the machine and the gearing by which it is driven may be arranged in any suitable manner; but the arrangement I prefer is illustrated in the drawings. l

In operating my improved machine the end of vthe stick of rattan is first entered in the grooves between the pairs of rollers a, b, c, and d, which are adjusted by the screws f to retain it in a central position and to grasp it firmly. The elasticity of the india-rubber covering of the rollers will cause it to be securely held Without incurring the risk ofinjuring its surface and to be fed or transferred uniformly without the jerkings and slippings incident to any inequalities of surface with ordinary inelastic rollers, and the blocks of india-rubber, e, above and below the journals, will enable the rollers to yield to any ordinary variation of diameter without altering the central position of the stick. The cutter-wheels are then adjusted by the screws k to cut into the surface of the rattan to the depth required for the strand. The machine is then set in motion by the application of power to the drivingshaft rt, which rotates the feedrollers and causes the stick to be drawn thrown through the machine and to be cut or scored by theaction of the cutter-wheels in the manner desired. Six cutter-Wheels are represented in the drawings operating upon a stick of rattan. It is evident that any number may be used without departing from the nature of my invention. The strands that have thus been marked and Scored on the surface of therattan may be subsequently separated from the core with a tubular cutter, or in any other manner that may be convenient.

It will be observed that the cutter-Whee1s cut upon and through the brittle surface ofthe rattan while it is Supported by the internal core, which causes them to make a cleaner cut than could be obtained by any of the machines hitherto used, in which the point of the cutter is inserted under the surface and the cutting- 'edge operated toward the surface, and thus causes the unsupported enamel to be irregularly fractured at the edge of the strand. By this machine, therefore, in which the surface is cut by external rotating knives, an important economy of both labor and material is effected, which would otherwise be lost in dressing and trimming the strand.

Having thus described my improvements in machinery for cutting rattan, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method herein described of dividing and cutting the surface of rattan into longitudinal sections or strips that may be subsequently separated from the core to form strands or braids for seating chairs and for other purposes by the employment, in combination with suitable feed-rollers, of a series or cluster of cutter wheels arranged, as shown and described, so as to revolve by the progress of the stick of rattan, and to cut intoits surface tothe depth required for the thickness of the strand, substantially as herein set forth.

2. Providing the corresponding grooves of rolls for carrying the rattan to and from the cutting mechanism with vulcanized india-rubber, as described, so that the stick of rattan while being fed and properly guided through the machine may be firmly grasped Without bruising or crushing its silicious surface, substantially as hereinbcfore set forth.

THOS. J. MAYALL.

VVit-nesses:

JOSEPH GAVETT, A. PoLLoK. 

